Friday, October 28, 2011

One

One came out with a new famine video today, thought I'd promote it with a quick post:

Quick comment on the video; why does the cool edgy guitar music represent famine, death and destruction, and the piano music represent redemption, peace, and hope? So typical. I'd like to see that reversed, because, you now, pianos are inherently evil, right? j/k. One is a funny sort of organization, I don't think they take donations directly, but they act as a sort of message-driven outreach voice for African development issues. They're sort of a "celebrity" organization, with Bono from U2 being their most visible supporter, and they spend a lot of time making slick and flashy videos and what not. This can be a little off-putting for some but I think it's fine to use a little star power to get your message across, and I like what they are trying to accomplish. Here is One's mission statement from their web site:

"ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights
extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by
raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support
smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping
to put kids in school and improving futures. Cofounded by Bono and
other campaigners, ONE is nonpartisan and works closely with African
activists and policy makers."

That sounds fine. So One isn't really on the front lines administering aid. Rather, One works with and supports several dozen aid organizations, including notably (RED), Oxafam, Bill & Meninda Gates Foundation, Water.org, and CARE, US Doctors For Africa, and several dozen others. Ideally this allows One to focus on getting the message out to people like me, and to politicians, and allows the aid organizations to focus on solving the problems on the ground. Of course this can also cause problems, particularly when and if One's messages don't align with their partner's aims and goals. But One tends to keep things pretty generic and simple, by design likely, so there's probably less of a chance of that happening.

The full list of One's aid partners is impressive and comprehensive, indeed. But notably absent from One's list? Doctors Without Borders, baby! Why? I doubt there is any serious schism between One and DWB, I rather suspect it is because DWB strives very hard to maintain absolute neutrality, and therefore can not align themselves with any umbrella organization. Respect. But a quick glance at all of the One partner organizations reveals many worthy aid organizations who are trying to do the right thing.

Just for Bono:

"One life, but we're not the same, we get to carry each other, carry each other, One"
-- One, U2